Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

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RockinRockies
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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by RockinRockies »

Deplorable wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:07 am I found that specific one for ~$2800 USD
Seriously?! Where? Maybe I'm confused. I saw ones like that on Alibaba for around that price but assumed they were fake.

I would pay that right now if I could
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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by jonnys_spirit »

For my money and protocol I'll squeeze it the old fashioned way. I think the best solution for home would be to be able to strip on grain up to 30 gallons, pump the stuff left in the boiler out into the compost, and let it drain itself into the ground...

What kind/size of pump can handle spent grain slurry of that volume?

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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by NZChris »

HDNB wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 9:22 am the easiest method for a clean AG wort in the still? Grain is so cheap, the best solution i have found is a really big fermenter like a 50 gallon rain barrel and put a take off valve about 1/2 way. use the wort, throw out most the trub in a compost pile (phenomenal grass fertilizer),put in fresh grain and start again ala UJSSM.
I have one with a spigot at the bottom. I open it and let the wort filter itself through the grain bed. If I want it really clear, I put the first half bucket back in the top. If I'm in a hurry to fill the still, I syphon some off the top. Because I always do multiple strips, how long the fermenter takes to drain isn't a problem and the grain bed is usually well drained by the time I need the last of the wort. The grain usually stays in the fermenter for UJSSM or a sugar wash for gin etc. By the time I do the last ferment, there is so little flavor in it, it's hardly worth trying to wring the last drop out of it and I throw it out for the birds.

Hopefully, I'll remember to try out my juicer next time. I imagine that what comes out of the juicer will be pretty murky and would have to sit overnight if you were fussy about clarity, (I'm not). If mine doesn't work well, my daughter's might as it is a different type, single screw, more like the ones being discussed here.
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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by Deplorable »

RockinRockies wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:22 am
Deplorable wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:07 am I found that specific one for ~$2800 USD
Seriously?! Where? Maybe I'm confused. I saw ones like that on Alibaba for around that price but assumed they were fake.

I would pay that right now if I could
I'll see if I can find it in my browser history when I get home.
Try grabbing that image and doing a Google image search maybe?
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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by RockinRockies »

Thanks. I didn't know I could search that way. It does look like the one I found at Alibaba.
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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by 6 Row Joe »

RockinRockies wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 9:11 am
6 Row Joe wrote: Mon Nov 28, 2022 6:35 am
shadylane wrote: Sun Nov 27, 2022 8:11 pm As the subject says, this is a place to share information about de-watering screw presses.
That's a fancy name for squeezing a mash. :lol:
Have you heard of a mop bucket? I don't own one but many here do and aparently they work well. Clean up is easy. 1012675248.jpeg
After using them on a 55 gallon drum full of mash...I can say I friggin hate this option.
Yes that makes sense. Obviously you need a bigger press.
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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by cob »

Shady this post first brought olive oil presses to mind. $$$. Then my champion juicer, and it seemed too small.

A net search brought up many like those listed above. lots of options.
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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by Single Malt Yinzer »

What you're looking for on a small scale is a tomato press/mill. Easily available. The only thing would be how fine you grind your grains.

Kitchenaid version: https://www.kitchenaid.com/countertop-a ... mfvsp.html

Manual screw press: https://www.amazon.com/Deluxe-Strainer- ... RIO-VKP250

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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by EricTheRed »

Bushman wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 6:56 am Shady thanks for starting this thread. I press crushed apples through a 20 ton press using a turkey basket and mesh bags. It would be interesting if someone would do a test to see how much extra you would get from pressing the grains to see if it is worth the effort and time at a hobby level.
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My own numbers on volume
1. Sparging before ferment - complete waste of time, messy as pguqq, wash volume pathetic
No numbers.

2. Squeezing with fruit press lined with cheeze cloth. 12 to 14 hours to squeeze everything out. Messy and annoying process. From a 135 litre mash pulled 100 litres @ 9% but cloudy. Needed more settling time.

3. Drip dry through cheese cloth. Overnight drip about 24 hours. Easy cleanup. No real mess. From same recipe as above, pulled 96 litres @ 9.5%. Wash clear as a bell.

I no longer squeeze. I drip dry. Total time is the same. Clearer wash. Less mess. Less work. I lose 4% of liquid. Sort of. Once you let the squeezing settle out, you lose another couple of litres.

So in reality, only losing 2 maybe 3 %

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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by Ben »

EricTheRed wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 7:06 pm

I no longer squeeze. I drip dry. Total time is the same. Clearer wash. Less mess. Less work. I lose 4% of liquid. Sort of. Once you let the squeezing settle out, you lose another couple of litres.
I was kind of wondering if installing a false bottom in the fermenter would let the on the grain community drain their beer off the grain with less fuss. Could even do a faux sparge to clean up the run off a bit.
:)
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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by EricTheRed »

Ben wrote: Wed Nov 30, 2022 8:14 am
EricTheRed wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 7:06 pm

I no longer squeeze. I drip dry. Total time is the same. Clearer wash. Less mess. Less work. I lose 4% of liquid. Sort of. Once you let the squeezing settle out, you lose another couple of litres.
I was kind of wondering if installing a false bottom in the fermenter would let the on the grain community drain their beer off the grain with less fuss. Could even do a faux sparge to clean up the run off a bit.
be better to go for what some do, BIAB - when done - lift and let drain
false bottom i would imagine would plug up
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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by RockinRockies »

Hmm... This is looking promising. Although, the size bag I would need for 85# of grain in a 55 gallon drum would be an interesting conundrum. I wouldn't be able to ferment with the bag in place, would I? So that would require pulling all the grain off and filling a different suspended bag.
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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by EricTheRed »

Thats what biab means.
Brew In A Bag
You would need a hoist though
:D
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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by Ben »

Clogging would certainly be a problem depending on the grain bill. However; addition of rice hulls solves it (inexpensively), even with rye or oats. That said, the last mash I did was 70% corn and 30% barley. Even with the corn only during gel process, ground with a roller mill gapped at 0.040" I was still running fast enough to run my HERMS (recirculating temp control) system. Once the barley was in there runoff speed was quicker. A large enough false bottom for a 55 gallon drum is going to flow pretty quickly even with sticky stuff.

If I were fermenting in a 55 gallon drum I would just stick the false bottom half way up. The grain can settle on there and you have a massive reservoir to drain from while the grain is drip drying. Give the grain bed a quick stir before you start runoff just to make sure it isn't settled too tightly, Vorlauf out the first gallon or two to send the yeast to the top of the bed and be on your way. Let it drain overnight or whatever... still faster than letting the clearing process take place. I let my mash tun drain overnight before I clean it out and the grain is pretty dry. Could even give it a rinse at the end with some warm water if you wanted to be extra greedy and get out a few more drops of alcohol.

The grain bed can give you enough filtration to pull your beer out crystal clear... seems worth trying, even if it was on a smaller scale.
:)
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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by RockinRockies »

EricTheRed wrote: Wed Nov 30, 2022 10:54 am Thats what biab means.
Brew In A Bag
You would need a hoist though
:D
Hah! Yeah. Although they don't ferment in the bag. We have a sufficient hoist already set up though
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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by jonnys_spirit »

https://www.brewinabag.com/collections/all/55-gallon

Pretty sure this place sells them for 55g drums. Get in touch with them.

Cheers!
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i prefer my mash shaken, not stirred
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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by RockinRockies »

jonnys_spirit wrote: Wed Nov 30, 2022 12:49 pm https://www.brewinabag.com/collections/all/55-gallon

Pretty sure this place sells them for 55g drums. Get in touch with them.

Cheers!
-j
Oh heck yeah, thanks.
I didn't know they made them
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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by jonnys_spirit »

RockinRockies wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 12:03 pm
jonnys_spirit wrote: Wed Nov 30, 2022 12:49 pm https://www.brewinabag.com/collections/all/55-gallon

Pretty sure this place sells them for 55g drums. Get in touch with them.

Cheers!
-j
Oh heck yeah, thanks.
I didn't know they made them
RR, Send them an email or give them a call. Tell them you're using for "fine ground corn wine" or something and they'll recommend an appropriate micron size - They know what you;re using it for in any case... I haven't used this product yet but probably would if I had reliable reports that the corn mash wouldn't clog it up.. Interested in your experiences with it if you do use it.

Cheers!
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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by Dancing4dan »

jonnys_spirit wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 1:55 pm
RockinRockies wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 12:03 pm
jonnys_spirit wrote: Wed Nov 30, 2022 12:49 pm https://www.brewinabag.com/collections/all/55-gallon

Pretty sure this place sells them for 55g drums. Get in touch with them.

Cheers!
-j
Oh heck yeah, thanks.
I didn't know they made them
RR, Send them an email or give them a call. Tell them you're using for "fine ground corn wine" or something and they'll recommend an appropriate micron size - They know what you;re using it for in any case... I haven't used this product yet but probably would if I had reliable reports that the corn mash wouldn't clog it up.. Interested in your experiences with it if you do use it.

Cheers!
-jonny
I'm using 800 micron bag from this guy and it works well for corn.

Ferment on grain, Yellow label yeast. Not much left in bag after ferment.
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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by RockinRockies »

I just re read the title. Derp. "off" the grain distilling. I was interested for this product for processing after fermentation of on the grain distilling. My apologies for murky-ing the water
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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by Euphoria »

Just some of my stuff, but I have this "apple chopper" and this fruit press. It's a 5 gallon press.
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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by RockinRockies »

After having a fellow member* show up and school us proper on our short comings, I must say we'll be forsaking the press idea. I thought we'd be able to compete in quality....hah! We're not even in the same universe as what this man can create, because of his knowledge and dedication to quality, using proper brewing, fermenting, distilling, and blending protocols. I'm so grateful.

But yeah. Screw the press. We're going to to learn to brew good beer for great whiskey, off the grain
Last edited by RockinRockies on Thu Dec 08, 2022 7:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by Pure Old Possum Piss »

6 Row Joe wrote: Mon Nov 28, 2022 6:35 am
shadylane wrote: Sun Nov 27, 2022 8:11 pm As the subject says, this is a place to share information about de-watering screw presses.
That's a fancy name for squeezing a mash. :lol:
Have you heard of a mop bucket? I don't own one but many here do and aparently they work well. Clean up is easy. 1012675248.jpeg
You beat me to it!
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And if it's grain, I'll make a drop outta it!
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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by NZChris »

Pure Old Possum Piss wrote: Thu Dec 08, 2022 3:57 pm
6 Row Joe wrote: Mon Nov 28, 2022 6:35 am
shadylane wrote: Sun Nov 27, 2022 8:11 pm As the subject says, this is a place to share information about de-watering screw presses.
That's a fancy name for squeezing a mash. :lol:
Have you heard of a mop bucket? I don't own one but many here do and aparently they work well. Clean up is easy. 1012675248.jpeg
You beat me to it!
No buckets here. https://www.google.com/search?q=dewater ... AXoECAEQAw
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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by Pure Old Possum Piss »

Sweet! Big nice "de-waterers". :thumbup:
I'm much too old to make enough to use one of those, so I'll probably never know the joy of not needing the mop bucket. Lol
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Wheels or tracks, I can drive it.
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And if it's grain, I'll make a drop outta it!
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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by Newtothis »

RockinRockies wrote: Wed Nov 30, 2022 10:13 am Hmm... This is looking promising. Although, the size bag I would need for 85# of grain in a 55 gallon drum would be an interesting conundrum. I wouldn't be able to ferment with the bag in place, would I? So that would require pulling all the grain off and filling a different suspended bag.
What about multiple bags, like 10 to 15 lbs each.
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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by Deplorable »

RockinRockies wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:22 am
Deplorable wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:07 am I found that specific one for ~$2800 USD
Seriously?! Where? Maybe I'm confused. I saw ones like that on Alibaba for around that price but assumed they were fake.

I would pay that right now if I could
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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by Tōtōchtin »

You can get extraction bags 20 and 55 gal with a 500 micron mesh and this company has a 1/4" mesh for faster draining. If you google these the prices are all over the place. I have used mine a lot and they have held up surprising well. Or you can look at silk screening material for those diy'ers.

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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by The Booze Pipe »

Whatever happened to the good ol’ Ass Press? It’s a process but worked well for me
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Re: Screw press for "off the grain" distilling.

Post by Fat Tony »

A lot of industries use centrifuges to separate one thing from another
It comes with it's own set of inherent risks, balance being at the top of the list
Simple would be a salad spinner...
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